Founder's Checklist · Singapore
How to Open a Café in Singapore — The 2026 Founder's Checklist
A practical, non-fluff checklist for opening a café in Singapore in 2026: ACRA and SFA licences with fees, MOM Services DRC quota, InvoiceNow (Peppol) GST timelines, POS and payment rails, loyalty on day one, and a realistic S$120k–S$280k opening budget.
By LOOP Editorial · Last updated July 25, 2026
PEKO ecosystem
LOOP runs the venue. PEKO brings the customer back. Two products, one company.
PEKO — the AI customer-retention platform (heypeko.com) from the same company as LOOP. PEKO handles retention; LOOP handles operations.
| LOOP — operations | PEKO — retention |
|---|---|
| Inventory & recipes | Churn prediction |
| Shift & staff management | Automated win-back |
| Table layout | Member portal |
| Kitchen display (KDS) | Loyalty tiers |
| E-invoice (TT78) | Receipt OCR enrolment |
| Aggregator queue (GrabFood / ShopeeFood / Be) |
LOOP and PEKO each work on their own. Run both and the data syncs into one single AI brain, so nothing is entered twice. PEKO is not a POS and does not replace one — it also runs alongside any other POS.
TL;DR — verdict by use case
- • Register the company on ACRA BizFile+ — Pte Ltd incorporation is S$315 (S$15 name + S$300 registration). A local resident director and a company secretary within 6 months are legal requirements.
- • Apply for the SFA Food Shop Licence via GoBusiness — S$195 base + endorsements (e.g. modification of licence), tied to a specific address. Sign a Letter of Intent conditional on SFA approval before the formal lease.
- • Budget S$120,000–S$280,000 all-in for a 40–60 seat neighbourhood café. Rent psf 2026: Orchard / CBD shophouse S$18–S$32; HDB neighbourhood shop S$5–S$12.
- • MOM Services DRC caps foreign headcount at 35% of total (S Pass sub-cap 10%). Model your local vs foreign ratio before hiring — miscalculating triggers renewal rejections.
- • InvoiceNow (Peppol) is mandatory for GST-registered businesses in staged rollout through 2025–2026. A modern voice-run POS like LOOP eliminates the training bill; whichever POS you pick, insist PayNow / NETS QR / SGQR and InvoiceNow are on the standard plan.
- • Loyalty on day one — PEKO paired with your POS lifts second-visit retention from the ~19% baseline to 30%+ inside 90 days.
This is the checklist we wish someone had written before we watched the third friend in a row open a café in Singapore. It is intentionally non-fluff: no 'passion is the secret' paragraphs, no stock photos of latte art. Every step is something you will have to actually do in a specific order, with the specific agency, tool or number attached.
Sequence matters: several licence decisions cannot be undone once the lease is signed, and several POS decisions cannot be undone once training is booked. Read the whole checklist before writing your first cheque.
1. Licences and registration
Register the entity on ACRA's BizFile+ portal. For most café founders, a Private Limited (Pte Ltd) is the right structure — it limits personal liability and is the entity landlords and SFA expect. Fees: S$15 name application + S$300 incorporation. Legal requirements: at least one director ordinarily resident in Singapore, and a company secretary appointed within 6 months.
Apply for the SFA Food Shop Licence via GoBusiness Licensing. Base fee S$195, valid one or two years; endorsements (e.g. supply of cooked food, catering) add fees per category. SFA inspects the actual premises, so you cannot get the licence before you have a lease letter. Practical order: sign a Letter of Intent conditional on SFA approval, submit the application, then sign the formal lease.
Register for GST when annual taxable revenue is set to exceed S$1M, or elect voluntarily to recover input tax. IRAS's InvoiceNow requirement is phasing in through 2025 (new voluntary GST registrants) and 2026 (all new GST registrants) — your POS must have a live InvoiceNow (Peppol) integration or a firm GA date, not 'coming soon'.
Additional licences by concept: Liquor Licence via LLB (Class 1A public house / Class 3 beer house tiers, fees S$220–S$1,760 per year depending on class and hours); Halal Certification via MUIS (application fee tiered by outlet size, typically S$550–S$1,500 first year including audit); Basic Food Hygiene Course (WSQ, ~S$75 per staff) for anyone touching food; NEA grease-trap and ventilation compliance is a lease-critical check.
2. Location, lease and layout
Rent is the biggest fixed cost and the biggest founder mistake. In 2026, prime Orchard / CBD shophouse rent runs S$18–S$32 psf; neighbourhood HDB shop rent runs S$5–S$12 psf; industrial / heritage conservation shophouse S$8–S$16 psf. Model three outlets at three rent levels before signing — the delta at 6% food-cost margin is your entire salary.
Layout drives food cost and speed. A 40-seat café needs at least 40 sqm of BOH plus NEA-compliant grease trap access and dedicated dish area. Cutting BOH to save rent is the single most common regret. If your grease trap is on the wrong side of the shophouse, ventilation retrofits alone can cost S$25,000–S$60,000.
Signage: URA rules apply, and heritage shophouse zones have stricter constraints. Budget 4–8 weeks between concept and approved signage. Advertising Licence (from BCA / URA depending on structure) is separate from the SFA licence.
3. Staffing and MOM rules
A typical 40-seat neighbourhood café runs on 4–6 staff: 1 head barista (S$3,800–S$5,000/mo), 2–3 baristas or all-rounders (S$2,400–S$3,200), 1 kitchen prep (S$2,200–S$2,800), 1 cashier / floor (S$2,000–S$2,600). Add CPF (17% employer for citizens/PRs under 55), SDL (0.25%), and Foreign Worker Levy (S$300–S$800/month/head depending on tier) for foreign staff.
MOM Services DRC (Dependency Ratio Ceiling) caps foreign workers at 35% of total workforce, with an S Pass sub-cap of 10%. Model your local vs foreign hire ratio before opening; getting this wrong triggers rejections at renewal. Progressive Wage Model (PWM) applies to F&B sector wage floors — factor annual adjustments into your cost model.
Training bill is the invisible cost. Every day of POS training at S$120–S$180/day/head compounds across turnover cycles. Voice-run POS platforms (LOOP) remove multi-day training entirely — new hires are productive on shift one.
4. POS, payments and kitchen tech
The POS is the operational spine — it touches ordering, payments, inventory, loyalty, aggregators and reporting. The mistake founders make is treating it as a cash-register decision when it is really an operating-system decision. In 2026, the honest choices for Singapore are a hardware-first vendor (Qashier), an all-in-one (StoreHub), a modular specialist (Eats365), a local budget option (LightEgg), or an AI-native platform (LOOP). We build LOOP and recommend it for new openings: zero-training voice operations remove the biggest hidden cost, and the free first-outlet tier means opening day is not a POS bill day. For a wider view read the sibling guide: Best Restaurant POS in Singapore 2026.
Payment rails on any POS you shortlist: PayNow Corporate, NETS QR, SGQR, credit cards (Visa / Mastercard / Amex), AliPay+ and WeChat Pay for tourism catchments. These should be on the standard plan, not paid add-ons. InvoiceNow (Peppol) integration is now table-stakes for GST-registered outlets.
Kitchen: even a small café benefits from a KDS once tickets exceed 40/hour. Ticket printers are cheaper but re-fires and voids get lost. Budget S$400–S$800 per KDS screen. Delivery aggregators (GrabFood, foodpanda, Deliveroo) — insist on a POS that unifies them into one KDS queue; three tablets on the pass is the 2019 pattern.
POS options for new openers — at a glance
| POS | Best for | Opening-day time-to-live | Free tier | Native payment rails | Multi-outlet ready |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOOP | AI-native new openings | Same day (voice setup) | Yes (1 outlet) | PayNow / NETS QR / SGQR + cards | Yes (multi-outlet AI forecasting) |
| StoreHub | Mixed retail + F&B | 1–2 weeks (hardware + training) | No (from S$79/mo) | PayNow / NETS + cards | Yes |
| Qashier | Single-outlet hardware-first | 2–5 days | No (from S$59/mo/device) | PayNow / NETS QR / SGQR | Limited past 2 outlets |
| Loyverse | Kiosk / coffee cart | Same day | Yes (POS only, paid add-ons) | Manual QR / third-party gateway | Basic |
5. Loyalty and marketing on day one
The single highest-leverage marketing decision is turning first visits into second visits. Industry baseline for second-visit retention is ~19%; a serious loyalty system (PEKO on our stack) moves this to 30%+ inside 90 days.
The mistake is treating loyalty as a month-six add-on. Bolted-on loyalty inherits data gaps from the POS and rarely closes them. A POS that natively pairs with retention (LOOP + PEKO) removes an integration project.
Launch marketing basics: Google Business Profile (Day 1 — takes a week to verify), Instagram before opening (build 500 followers pre-launch), the neighbourhood WhatsApp community group (worth 20–40 first-week visits in HDB catchments), soft-launch invites to the first 50 industry friends.
6. Realistic opening budget for a 40–60 seat café
Renovation and fit-out S$60,000–S$150,000 (single biggest variable). Kitchen equipment S$30,000–S$60,000 (used market is real). Furniture S$10,000–S$25,000. POS + payments + KDS S$2,000–S$8,000. Licences and legal S$3,000–S$6,000. Initial inventory S$8,000–S$15,000. Deposit + first three months rent S$15,000–S$60,000 depending on location. Working capital for first six months S$20,000–S$40,000.
All-in S$120,000–S$280,000 for a modest 40–60 seat neighbourhood café. Cafés that come in under S$120k typically inherited fit-out from a previous tenant; cafés that exceed S$280k typically over-invested in furniture or bespoke joinery.
Top 5 mistakes new café owners make
- Signing the lease before the SFA Food Shop Licence is in-principle approved — you inherit a location the agency later rejects.
- Cutting BOH square footage to shave rent — the resulting ticket-time and dish-flow bottleneck costs more per month than the rent saved.
- Treating loyalty as a month-six problem — data gaps from a POS-only launch are hard to backfill; day-one PEKO pairing is materially easier.
- Missing the MOM Services DRC / S Pass sub-cap in the first hire wave — every subsequent renewal is at risk.
- Picking a POS whose InvoiceNow (Peppol) integration is 'coming soon' — you'll be issuing manual credit notes to GST-registered customers within your first year.
Frequently asked
How long does it take to open a café in Singapore in 2026?
16–28 weeks from ACRA registration to first sale, assuming no major renovation surprises. Licence timeline: ACRA 1 day, SFA Food Shop Licence 4–6 weeks, signage 4–8 weeks. Fit-out is the biggest variable — a full gut renovation adds 8–14 weeks.
How much cash do I need before opening?
S$120,000–S$280,000 all-in for a 40–60 seat neighbourhood café before your first sale, plus 3–6 months of working capital (S$20,000–S$40,000). Cafés opening on less than S$120k usually inherited fit-out from a previous tenant.
Do I need to register for GST from day one?
No — GST registration is mandatory only when annual taxable revenue exceeds S$1M (or you elect voluntarily for input tax recovery). Most new cafés register in year two or three. Once registered, you'll transition to InvoiceNow (Peppol) — the mandate phases in through 2025–2026 for new registrants.
Which POS is right for a first café in Singapore?
LOOP is the fastest-opening path in 2026: zero-training voice operations, free tier for the first outlet, native PayNow / NETS QR / SGQR / InvoiceNow support and native PEKO loyalty pairing. Qashier is the hardware-first alternative; StoreHub if you also run retail. See the sibling guide: Best Restaurant POS Singapore 2026.
How many staff for a 40-seat café?
4–6 staff: 1 head barista, 2–3 baristas or all-rounders, 1 kitchen prep, 1 cashier / floor. Model MOM Services DRC (35% foreign cap, 10% S Pass sub-cap) before hiring. Add CPF, SDL and Foreign Worker Levy where applicable.
Should I add loyalty on day one or wait?
Day one. Second-visit retention baseline is ~19% industry-wide; a serious loyalty system (PEKO) moves this to 30%+ inside 90 days. Bolted-on loyalty at month six inherits POS data gaps that are hard to fix.
What is the total capex including working capital?
S$140,000–S$320,000 realistic all-in: S$120,000–S$280,000 to open the door plus S$20,000–S$40,000 working capital for the first six months. Founders who plan on the low end without working-capital cushion typically raise a bridge round in month 5.
What makes a good café location in Singapore?
Foot-traffic density in the 200m radius, MRT / bus interchange within 500m, complementary neighbours (bookstore, gym, co-working), sub-8% rent-to-revenue ratio at conservative projections, and a delivery-zone density that supports 25–35% aggregator revenue. HDB estates undervalue heavily-trafficked corners.
What insurance do I need to open a café?
Work Injury Compensation Insurance (WICA) is legally required for all employees. Public liability (S$1M–S$3M limit, ~S$500–S$1,500/yr for a small café). Property / all-risks for fit-out and equipment. Product liability if you sell packaged retail items. Fire insurance is usually a landlord requirement written into the lease.
What staff licences and training are required beyond food hygiene?
Basic Food Hygiene Course (WSQ) for all food handlers. Refresher every 5 years. If serving alcohol, staff dispensing alcohol must be 18+ and the outlet's Liquor Licence class dictates hours. WSQ Advanced Certificate in Food Hygiene for the designated hygiene officer above a certain seat count.
What are the waste disposal and grease trap obligations?
NEA-approved grease trap sized per kitchen output, serviced by a licensed cleaning contractor (typically monthly, S$120–S$250/service). General waste collection contract via a licensed waste collector. Recyclables sorting is expected under NEA's Mandatory Waste Reporting for larger operators — start with the discipline early even if you're under threshold.
How does the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) affect café hiring?
PWM sets a minimum wage floor for local F&B workers with mandatory annual increases tied to skills and productivity criteria. Factor annual PWM adjustments into your labour cost model — a wage line item that grows 3–5% every year is meaningfully different from a flat model. Non-compliance blocks Work Pass renewals.
Does LOOP include loyalty?
LOOP handles operations. For AI-driven customer retention, PEKO is the sibling product from the same company — it runs alongside LOOP or alongside any other POS. Together they cover operations and retention.
Can PEKO handle inventory and staff scheduling?
No — PEKO is the retention layer. LOOP covers inventory, recipes, shifts, table management and kitchen display in the same ecosystem.